Shoe-maker s sewing-needle



(No Model.)

A. W.AUSTIN SHOE MAKERS SEWING NEEDLE.

No. 292,195. Patented Jan. 22, 1884.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER W. AUSTIN, OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA.

SHOE-M'AKERS SEWING-NEEDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,195, dated January 22, 1884.

Application filed March 23,1883. (No model.) i

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER W. AUs TIN, of the city of FortWayne, in the county of Allen, in the State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Opening and Closing the Open Eye of a Shoe-Makers Sewing-Needle; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation thereof, reference being had to the drawings hereto annexed, making a part of this specific'ation.

My invention relates to shoe-makers sewing-needles having an open, eye adapted to be openedand closed by a slide-fillet.

The objects of my improvement are, first, to provide a means that by the operation in the use of the needle the eye will be opened and closed; and, second, to avoid the consumption of time required to operate a slide to open and close the eye. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a view in perspective of the needle and my improvement. Fig. 2 is a side view in perspective of the needle andmy improvement, showing theeye as opened. Fig. 3 is a detailed view in perspective of the spring and its tenon.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

To enable me to accomplish the objects mentioned, a needle, D, is provided with a transverse notch, O, a slight distance above the point, and a grooveon the same side thereof extending from'near the point to the handle, being of.uniform depth except directly above the notch where it extends through the needle, forming a mortise, M. There is a rivet-hole at A, Fig. 1.

My invention consists in forming a spring, 0, slightly arched, and very flexible and elastic at B, having a tenon, I, with a rivet-hole, A. I then fit the spring into the mortise and groove, and secure it. there by a rivet at A. (See Fig. 1.) The spring thus fitted closes the opening of the notch O, and thereby forms an eye in the needle; but this forms no part of my present invention.

I prefer to carry out this feature of my inmoval of the needle from the material the eye is closed by the action of the spring. The construction and arrangement of the spring, as described, assure the opening and closing of the eye by the operation in the use of the needle, and avoid the consumption of time required to move a slide back and forth to open and close the eye after the needle is inserted into the material upon which the operator is at work, as required heretofore.

This invention is designed for use in the manufacture and repairing of boots and shoes, particularly in that part thereof in which only one side is-open to view. The needle can be put through the leather, which opens the eye, as before described, and the thread can be put into it on the inside, and the needle drawn out and with it the thread through the leather.

I am aware that prior to myinvention shoemakers sewing-awls have been made having an open eye to which was adapted a slide for the purpose of opening and closing it, and that apatent was granted therefor to Samuel Babbitt, J uly 12, 1870-. I therefore do not claim such a combination, broadly; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with the needle having an open eye and a longitudinal groove, of a spring, 0, having a tenon, I, and pivoted in said groove, all substantially as set forth.

ALEXANDER w. AUSTIN.

Witnesses:

CHARLES A: HAYS, J OHN A. WALTER. 

